What my hardest races taught me about mental strength — and how you can practice it too.
I’m at mile 80 of my first 100-miler, struggling with sleep deprivation and nausea. Bundled up in six layers, two pairs of pants, a ski mask, and gloves, the only thing keeping me from lying down on the side of the trail and closing my eyes is the risk of getting too cold if I stop moving in the record arctic temperatures.
My pacer remarks that despite throwing up a few miles ago and feeling so sleepy, it’s good that I’m still moving and staying in it mentally. And she’s right. Even though I’m having trouble getting my body moving any faster than a slow jog-walk rhythm, I’m not actually feeling that low mentally. Mostly, I’m just trying to figure out what it’s going to take to start running consistently again and move at a faster pace. But I’m not mad, upset, or frustrated with what I’m going through. It just kind of is. I have no reaction to it. With this 100-miler being ultra number fourteen, I kind of know how these things go by now.
Years of Hard Ultras Built My Mental Toughness
Not to mention, I’d only recently figured out how to get through an ultra without throwing up for two-thirds of the race. My start in this sport was anything but smooth sailing. During the first eleven ultras I did, I spent the final hours of every race dealing with debilitating acid reflux, dry heaving, and throwing up. After years of following traditional advice — take these gels, use these electrolytes, try this drink mix, eat more carbs, more calories, more solid food, drink more water — I finally figured out that what works for seemingly everyone else does not work for me. For my gut, less is more. Simple is better. And it has absolutely zero tolerance for sweeteners like stevia or citric acid, which are found in every gel, drink mix, and electrolyte powder on the market.
Trust me, I was thrilled when maple syrup, rice, salt pills, and the occasional tortilla turned out to be the solution to years of brutal races defined by stomach issues and disappointing finishes. Finally getting two ultras under my belt without any GI problems in 2025 was what gave me the green light to sign up for my long-dreamed-of first 100-miler…and how I found myself sleep deprived and nauseous at mile 80 in “feels like” seven degrees with 30 mph winds.
Why I Didn’t Need Mantras at Mile 80
As I continue down the trail, trying desperately to keep my eyes open, my pacer’s comment about me staying in such a good place mentally despite things getting hard turned on the two brain cells I had left. It made me think about how that could be. Because let me be honest with you — there was nothing, and I mean nothing, going on in my brain at that point except: “keep your eyes open,” “no, you can’t lay down, it’s too cold,” “okay, you’ve been walking too long, try to start shuffling again,” and “I hope my pacer isn’t bored.”
I wasn’t repeating mantras to myself or doing anything intentional to keep myself positive and dialed in. I was just existing and trying to stay awake. I remember leaning on mantras to stay focused and positive earlier in the race, probably from miles 30 to 75. But once I got really tired, I wasn’t making many active choices about my thoughts anymore.
And that’s when I realized how all those years of tough racing, stomach issues, throwing up on the side of the trail, being in the back of the pack, and watching my personal and competitive goals slip away again and again worked for me so much more than they ever worked against me. Because that’s where I learned how to choose my thoughts. How not to feel sorry for myself when the day wasn’t going my way. How to be okay with discomfort and not need to change it immediately. How to still show up as my best self even when it wasn’t my best performance. How second winds happen. How if I react to the problems I face during the day with composure and resolve, I can still finish with something to be proud of, even if it’s not the time or placing I wanted.
Setbacks Were Setups: Reframing Bad Races
Because I’d been given the opportunity to practice those skills over and over and over again — blessed by so many “bad” races that sharpened my mind and character — now I was 80 miles into a 100-mile day and it was automatic. I didn’t need to think about being positive, determined, or hopeful. I didn’t need to remind myself to keep moving forward or that the day wasn’t over and things could still turn around. That had become autopilot. I’d been here before. So many times. More times than the average first-time 100-mile runner. I’d experienced in shorter races what most people don’t experience until their first hundred.
In that moment, my two remaining brain cells thought that realization was pretty dang cool. And it completely changed my perspective on those first eleven really hard ultras and all the years I spent wondering if things were ever going to work out for me — if I would ever run an ultra I was proud of, if I would ever accomplish my dream of running 100 miles. I used to think of those races as setbacks. During my 100-miler, I realized they were setups. The whole time, I was being set up to be prepared for my first 100-miler once I finally got there.
Mental Toughness for Ultramarathons Is a Skill — Not a Personality Trait
It’s not that some people are wired differently and that’s what makes them mentally tougher or more dialed in when things get hard. It’s about whether you’re willing to use every difficult race or training day as practice. Practice controlling your thoughts. Practice your mantras. Practice being the kind of person you want to be in those moments.
Because at mile 80, you won’t have that level of control or perspective anymore. Your brain will be too mushy for that. You’ll be too tired, too depleted, too hazy. The only thing you’ll have left is all the times you practiced before that moment and whether or not you practiced consistently enough that the person you want to be shows up automatically. Like Pavlov’s conditioning. Things get hard, the bell rings, and your mind already knows where it needs to go.
How You Train Your Mind in a 10K Is How You’ll Race an Ultra
The old saying “how you do one thing is how you do everything” can sound cliché and dramatic, but there’s truth to it. If you’re not practicing your mindset during hard 10Ks and half marathons, you won’t suddenly know how to tap into it during a marathon. If you’re not practicing your mindset during hard 50Ks and 50-milers, you won’t magically access it during a 100-miler. And if you’re not practicing your mindset during hard training days, you won’t suddenly have those skills available on race day.
I’m proof of that. I cried and complained my way through my first 50-miler in 2019. Absolute baby behavior for the entire second half of the race as soon as things got hard. Seven years later, I’m at mile 80 of a 100-mile race, completely calm while dealing with a level of fatigue and nausea that was at least double what I felt during that first 50. It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen magically. And you’re not always going to get it perfect.
But if you hold yourself accountable in every hard moment, and ask whether you could show up with a little more composure and a little more resolve — if you question the stories you tell yourself about how hard it is, how much it hurts, how unfair it is that you’re running slower than you hoped — and if you genuinely use those moments to practice a higher standard of thinking and reacting, you will get better at it. Your mind will learn a new way of responding to hard things.
But you have to practice. You have to be honest with yourself when you’re not showing up as well as you could be. And you have to learn from those moments and make an honest effort to do better the next time.
4 Ways to Build Mental Toughness Before Race Day
Here are a few practical ways I work on mental strength so that it’s autopilot at mile 80:
1. Visualize Backward
Close your eyes and remember races or training days that were really hard, whether because of nausea, throwing up, headaches, heavy legs, or anything else. Visualize how it felt and how you reacted. If your mind spiraled or you mentally checked out, visualize doing things differently. Think about what you would have said to yourself instead and how that would have changed the way you moved through the moment.
2. Visualize Forward
Close your eyes and think about different points in an upcoming race where things could get difficult. For longer ultras, think about how it’s going to feel if you start throwing up. For shorter ultras, think about how your legs and lungs are going to feel when you’re pushing the pace. Visualize the course, the weather, what you’re wearing, and then visualize how you want to respond to different kinds of discomfort. What you’ll say to yourself. What it will feel like to keep moving forward with strength and composure no matter what.
3. Use Hard Training Days as Practice
Whenever training feels hard for whatever reason — it’s hot, you didn’t bring enough water or fuel, you’re extra tired from a stressful week, you’re bored, sore, unmotivated, hungry — one of my favorite things to say to myself is: “This is how it will feel at mile 90.” Because any training day that feels particularly challenging is such a good opportunity to practice for those final miles of an ultra when the fatigue, depletion, boredom, and lack of willpower start stacking up. Don’t waste those opportunities.
4. Honest Reflection After Every Race
Get honest with yourself after every race. Journal and debrief, and don’t sugarcoat where you let yourself down. There’s this idea that you have to turn every negative experience into a positive. And while finding good in difficult situations is helpful, pretending you handled everything perfectly when you didn’t honestly isn’t. You don’t need to force yourself to say “I’m happy with that” if you’re not. You can recognize what went well while also acknowledging where you want to improve. That’s part of learning. But this kind of reflection is best done at least a week or two after a race, once emotions settle and you can look at things more objectively.
Why Mindset Coaching Is Built Into Every Training Plan
Working on mindset during training so that you’re mentally prepared when you race is such a big part of how I coach. The farther you go, the more important it becomes. So if I notice one of my runners constantly complaining, getting down on themselves, or not practicing how they want to respond when things get hard, it quickly becomes part of our weekly conversations and monthly calls.
It’s also why I don’t just deliver plans. I actually coach and get to know every runner I work with. Because during those weekly conversations and monthly calls — when runners are giving me feedback, talking about what they’re struggling with, explaining how training is going — I’m able to catch subtle signs that they need support with this side of running and guide them toward the type of mindset practice that will actually work for them. Those are things I’d never be able to catch if I just handed someone a plan and sent them on their way.
Ready to Train Your Mind Along With Your Body?
If racing is about more than just pace, splits, and podiums for you — if you want running to help you become a more resilient and determined person, if you want it to be an expression of who you are and not just something you do — I am 100% with you, and I am the coach for you.
Message me or book a free consultation call to learn more about 1:1 online running and strength coaching and how I can help you reach your goals while making running about more than just finish lines and medals.
